role of a modern day broadcast journalist

The role of the broadcast journalist is significantly changing. This is down to a range of factors, from the rise of the internet, improved competition, advanced technology, as well as being able to ‘multi-skill’ in a variety of areas. In this essay I will look at some of the biggest changes facing the broadcast journalists of today, as well as touching on some of my own personal experiences. Perhaps one of the biggest of these changes facing broadcast journalists is the constant rise of the internet, and the technology that comes with it. Social networking has had a big impact on the entire journalism industry, with news companies fighting to not only be the first to broadcast a news story, but to also be the first to break the story on sites such as Twitter. Social networking sites can allow news companies to attract viewers to the station by ‘tweeting’ about a certain event, such as “Suspected terrorist attack in London, more on Sky News now.” But it can also work in a different way, if, for example, the above tweet was sent out by a member of the public, then news companies could use social networking sites to track down potential interviewees, witnesses or any other useful contacts that may relate to the story. This is something that became useful for me in both the TV and radio modules. Once an interesting news story had been found it was a case of finding relevant interviewees, and this could be achieved more efficiently by using social networking site Facebook, where in seconds I managed to get in touch with members of the public in which I could then set up an interview. Similar to this, the internet can also be used to blog about certain news events. Though often associated with the print aspect of journalism, in recent years internet blogging sites have created a platform for members of the public to post their own news stories, or give views on current affairs via videos or even audio clips. Often referred to as citizen journalism, the public will look to disseminate and analyse news by means of personal blogging, as well as through social networking sites. Citizen journalism has been defined by Rosen (2006) as being “when the people formerly known as the audience employ the press tools they have in their possession to inform one another.” Following on from this, Allan (2006, p.172) states that “Variations of ‘user-generated’ reporting are evolving, with blogs at the fore – the term now stretching to accommodate such diverse forms of content such as mobile blogging, photo blogging, video blogging and audio blogging.” He goes on to say that “The blogging phenomenon is now firmly entrenched, and still growing at a remarkable rate.” This is arguably one of the biggest changes that broadcast journalists must adapt to – The public want up-to-date, on-the-go news, and that is achieved by using the resources you have available to you, such as a camera built into your mobile phone, or perhaps an audio device on your phone. Again, this is something which aided me when I was out and about recording, by taking pictures at the scene of my news story, I could potentially upload these to Twitter or a personal blog to give a sort of insight into the news story, but it also saves having to carry around many different devices, when just one can do all these tasks to a substantial level. It also came in handy for me when attending a rugby press-conference as part of my work experience, due to technical problems with one of the recorders, I could rely on my phone to record the audio – this is an example of using the changing face of not just broadcast journalism, but technology as a whole, to really aid you in your work. Another transformation that broadcast journalism as an industry has faced in the last 10 years or so is 24-hour news. Sky News – who pride themselves as being “the first for breaking news” – faced competition in 1997 from the BBC who launched their own BBC News 24 station (now known simply as BBC News), which is still to this day funded principally by the public through television tax. It’s fair to say that news programmes come in different shapes and sizes so to speak, with bulletins ranging from a one minute headline summary in-between programmes, to 24 hours of non-stop news. This means that as broadcasting develops new forms of expression, the choice of programmes will continue to grow, leading to “news having to be marketed in increasingly diverse ways to continue to win audiences accustomed to greater choice” (Boyd, 2001). This links in with the competition aspect of broadcast journalism, where as Boyd (2001, p.126) says, viewers can now stay tuned to one channel all day, “becoming far more consumer-orientated in the quest to cling rating shares in an ever-fragmenting market, the distinction between news and entertainment becomes more blurred.” Though perhaps not quite on the same level, the competition we faced during both radio and television newsdays gave us a real insight into what it is like working in rival newsrooms. In one television news session, I was given the task to create a news package on a big rugby match taking place in Cardiff, a story which the second group were also chasing for their headline story. The competition between the two groups – though light hearted compared to big media corporations such as Sky News and BBC – was an eye-opener of the dog-eat-dog world of broadcast journalism – and that is one aspect that will certainly never change.One of the experiences to take away from this course so far is the experience of specialising in three different aspects of journalism – print, radio and TV. It is now becoming common practice for journalists to be multi-skilled, being able to produce reports for radio, TV and increasingly more common, as I have already touched on, the web. The purpose of multi-skilling is down to many reasons, but more commonly due to reduced staff numbers. At a time when financial constraints are present and many companies can perhaps no longer take on so many members of staff, they require fewer members to bring more to the table. Financial constraints can also lead to some broadcast companies taking on an increased amount of freelance journalists which Boyd believes “is the most effective foot-in-the-door method of getting employment” (2001, p.8) but the drawbacks are “insecurity, no sick pay, no paid holidays or perks, living out of a suitcase and constantly having to work flat out to prove yourself.” I have already learned how hard it can be to break into the industry just by speaking to some of those who have been there and done it, such as lecturer Chris Perry, but it is important to stick to it until you eventually get the breakthrough. The role of the broadcast journalist is changing in such a way that simply knowing about either TV or radio isn’t enough. The competition is so vast that only the best will succeed. It’s not just the role of the journalist that is changing either; it appears that now more than ever, advertising and funding is a huge fragment of broadcast journalism. Crook (1998, p.47) states that “downsising and the chase for profits in the commercial sector means that most radio journalism is reactive and restricted to the packaging of outside sources.” It can be argued that, as Crook himself says, radio journalism is now very much “reactive” and also “restricted”, suggesting that we may not get the range of stories we once would. Though to argue against this point, I believe that with improved technology, which allows journalists to use programmes such as Skype and access to the internet near enough anywhere on the planet, journalists can now broadcast from every facet of the world, and this is something that is only possible thanks to technology – It is certainly changing broadcast journalism, but in a positive way.To conclude, the role of the broadcast journalist is changing in a substantial way. Through improved technology, journalists can now report from pretty much anywhere in the world almost instantly. Technology has also made reporting easier, with just one device having the capability to hold all your files as well as having the ability to record footage and audio. Though in many ways, a lot has stayed the same, where, despite competition increasing more and more, it has always been around – broadcast journalists want to be the first on the scene and be the one to break the news story. That will never change, but what we now have is the ability to bring news to the public faster and to a high standard. It is likely that the journalism industry as a whole will continue to change for many more years to come, and it is our role as journalists to adapt to these changes and use them to our advantage.